Report: Problems with new S&W Bodyguard 380

[Martygrant]

....Is this normal, or will it loosen up over time?

Take down lever was hard to move the first time but it loosened up after a couple of times and it also goes to the 9 o'clock position. Also, S&W finally sent back my BG380 with a new laser unit so I'll wash my mouth out with soap for thinking they had forgotten me.
For those experiencing button problems it's easy to permanently fix the flabby button problem. I think the "BIC" pen solution is found somewhere here and It does work perfectly. However, my new laser unit functions FLAWLESSLY with just a light touch on either button. Maybe Insight redesigned something or it has better/fresh "buttons". If it goes "bad" again I'll put back the little nub stiffeners made from a pen ink cartridge.

 

[J D Allen]

bg380 problem

I was at the gunshop and a guy came in with a s&w bg380 wanting to return it for repair. I asked about the problem he was having and he said it would fire the first round but it wouldn't fire after that. So he sent it back for repair. Hopefully they straighten out these problems.

 

[3Speedyfish3]

My takedown lever is spongy to the 4 o'clock position and needs some amount of force to get it to rotate to the 9 o'clock, where it finally will release. Thanks, guys for the tips on the previous pages.

 

[drover]

As in 2 other posts, myself, son and a friend all have new BG380's. All 3 have been flawless, many rounds down range with not a single issue. We have all seen a few lemons in any given model put out by every company out there, it just happens. If you have 1000 guns of the same model and 3 of them have issues that doesn't make the entire line bad. These are extremely well designed and reliable guns. I'd put my life on the line any day with one. S&W will fix your issue without a doubt. Don't give up on this little beauty.

 

[leephan79]

My BG380 was purchased a week ago from academy sports (display model). I took it to the range and experienced problems with bullets not discharging. I'd have to pull the trigger 2-3 times to get the round to fire. It did this to Monarch and winchester white box target range ammo. Also the magazine would come loose. Mines on its way to S&W now.

 

[Shuz]

My BG380 was purchased a week ago from academy sports (display model). I took it to the range and experienced problems with bullets not discharging. I'd have to pull the trigger 2-3 times to get the round to fire. It did this to Monarch and winchester white box target range ammo. Also the magazine would come loose. Mines on its way to S&W now.

I had the same problem with FTF on my new 380 Bodyguard. I sent it back for repair 3 times for the same problem. On the 4th return, I asked for a full refund. I received a full refund within 10 days, including sales tax.
Keep after them, perhaps they will be able to fix yours, if not, ask for a refund.

While I was sending my Bodyguard back the first time, I bought a new Ruger LCP. It has now seen several hundred rounds and has never failed to fire. I wish the Bodyguard I had would have been reliable, because it has a few features that the Ruger does not have: it's just that reliability wasn't one of them!

 

[WldB]

Bodyguard 380 disaster

I purchased a Bodyguard on Saturday. Both my thumbs are sore and a fingernail broken coping with the slide release and safe levers. I'll be returning it to the dealer and have no stomach to deal with S&W on this matter unless they will simply refund my money and let me use the Bodyguard as a plinking target for my PPK.

What a disappointment.

Update: It's a PPK/S, not a PPK. The lead person at the store insisted on this beauty. The slide presents some stiffness, presumably because of a starchy recoil spring. I immediately took it to the range and fired 50 rounds of AE hardball. Nice gun: German design and S&W manufacturing at its best.

The PPK/S is bigger and heavier than the Bodyguard, but I'd bet my life on this beautiful, classic pistol.

 

[RonRC]

I am fortunate in that I took my 380 to the range, fired about 50 rounds, and had no problems whatever.
Initially, the long pull of the trigger had me hitting the target to the low left. Once I recognized that issue, it was surprisingly accurate at 10 yards.
I now am a satisfied S&W Bodyguard 380 owner.

Ron

 

[Horace & Daniel]

It's for this very reason I'm waiting a year or so to get my first 1911, a Ruger SR1911. I'm not going to be a guinea pig for any gun maker, be it S&W, Ruger, or any other company.

I do like the looks of the 380 BG, really cool-looking gun. Love the usable sights. HATE the laser activation button. Who in the hell is going to find that little button when the SHTF? Seriously. S&W really screwed the proverbial pooch on that one. It should be a CT-type activation on the grip.

May have to settle for an OD LCP to fill the 380 hole until they work the bugs out of the BG.

 

[AKAOV1MAN]

You don't have to wait for a 1911, there are beau coup 1911s out there now that are bulletptoof, Colt and S&W to name just a couple. Now if you MUST have a Ruger, the waiting might be a good idea but I have never had any problems with Ruger new models, or Smith new models either. I do not own a Bodyguard 380 however. I will continue to rely on my Colt Mustang +2 and PPK/S for the next couple of decades(hope I can rely on me for that long also).

 

[mnwildfan2k]

After searching for weeks trying to find the bodyguard in stock within a reasonable driving distance, I found one this morning at 9am. Went in and picked it up at 2pm. Drove it home at 3pm, showed it off to the wife right around 3:30pm, loaded and off to wal mart we went for groceries. (super easy to pocket carry, or carry in general vs my Sigma 9mm)
Got home roughly 5:30pm, put the groceries away, and headed out to the grill to cook up some brats. Heres where it gets interesting. I took the bodyguard out to give it a little closer inspection and tapped the laser button (right side) nothing, left side, nothing, right side, nothing. DAMN! Sure enough, popped open the manual to find further info on the laser itself. Field stripped, removed the laser containing 2 small batteries. No clue how long this had been on the shelf and no clue how much that laser may have been used. Its a long shot, but I drove back to walmart and picked up new batteries, came home, installed............ nothing.

The laser switch had taken a **** somewhere between the hours of 330pm and 630pm... looks like I will be on the phone with S&W bright and early Monday morning.

I absolutely LOVE my Sigma. I have been raving about the Bodyguard for months. Based on this situation alone, you can bet the conversations about this weapon will be much different than I would have expected.

4 hours of ownership and 0 rounds fired. Not a great first impression. Back to waiting we go. I can just about imagine how long it will take to get this rectified. Probably have to send it in, they will test it, either fix or replace, and send it back. I'm ballparking a 3 week turnaround.

(2nd paragraph **** equals a term used for feces that starts with a "c". I went that route to prevent said "****" evidently we are censored as 3yr olds. Oddly enough, I can say damn, Damn, DAMN!)

 

[mnwildfan2k]

called S&W on Monday morning in regards to the issue above. I should have a shipping label here tomorrow as it did not show up today.

One thing I just noticed while removing the laser unit to be shipped out is that I cannot insert a fully loaded mag into the weapon without pressing the mag release button. I think the mag release notch inside the handle is catching on the top lip of the mag.

Can anyone verify if theirs is this way as well? I should be able to release an empty mag and insert a fully loaded mag by just pressing the mag into the handle without pressing the mag release button, correct?
I also cannot insert an empty mag without pressing in the mag release. I thought maybe the round was catching somewhere, but I am now confident that the mag is in fact catching on the mag release notch inside the handle.... hmmm

Someone please verify. I will have to call S&W again tomorrow. Maybe the whole thing will be going back.

 

[Mike Grasso]

around 3:30pm, loaded and off to wal mart we went for groceries.

4 hours of ownership and 0 rounds fired. Not a great first impression.

I apologize for this in advance because some of you will think harsh of me. I will also state that I'm currently an LE Officer (32 years) with one of the largest Departments in the US and have taught Tactics (life saving techniques) for the Academy, that said...

Are you serious!? You bought a firearm, didn't even function test or fire it, then carried it to save your life and loved ones? You didn't even know where it printed? What if it was 5 inches left and someone took your loved one hostage? The rest is censored...

Mg

 

[Rover963]

I just got one of these, Serial EAT20xx. Fired 100 rounds at the range and found a problem. The last round in the magazine will not always feed properly into chamber, it will keep the slide slightly open, forcing me to eject it. This happened on 3 different magazines and it doesn't matter how many bullets are in magazine to start with; its always the last shot, or if you load the magazine with one bullet.

Anyone have this issue? I took it back to the dealer, they said clean it and fire another 100.

 

[Bell Ringer]

Laser Problems

Bought one of these 2 weeks ago. Fired about 100 rounds. All fine then the laser just stopped working. Replaced batteries, still dead. Called SW. They said there has been problems with the lasers and they would send a shipping label and replace with a new one after I send them the old one. Really aggravating...don't they test these things....I like the gun but after reading about all the continuing issues not sure what to think. Serial is EAT5XX.

 

[gsewell]

Problem with Bodyguard - Weak hitting primer

I have experienced a problem with my bodyguard in that it will fire the first round OK, but on the next round it will not fire the round. I have pulled the trigger a second time with the same result. After I eject the misfire round and re-chamber the next, I get the same result, a misfire. I replace the mag with a new one and get the same results. Looking at the misfired round, I can see a slight indent on the primer on all of the misfired rounds.

My daughter just got her CHL and I wanted her to shoot it, but after twice having this problem, she said it it would be better to just throw the gun at someone rather than try to shoot it to protect her. She went to Academy and bought a Bersa Thunder 380.

Any idea what is going on with the gun?

Gary

 

[Old cop]

While I don't own the Bodyguard I did shoot two mags through one a friend owns. He's never had a problem (>3oo rounds) but it had a fail to extract on the second mag. It locked the gun up to tight I had to use my pocket knife to get the empty shell casing out of the chamber.

Interestingly enough I've had the same problem with my Ruger LCP. After two trips back to Ruger they are replacing it w/a new LCP. I'm not sure I could ever trust these little guns. Maybe some things just defy the laws of physics and guns this small, in .380 anyway, may be overreach.

 

[offensive]

My laser has now failed on me. Owned it for 3 months, it is my daily carry and I have put 250-270rds down range on it. I have already replaced the batteries and it is still dead. Button fix has been done already. Very disappointed in it as I also own a MP 15-22 and have been very happy with it and am looking at a full size M&P .40...but if the BG380 is an indication of quality on the semi auto handguns...I will be selling the BG380 and getting a Sig P238 and looking at a 4th Gen Glock 22

 

[Knochen]

I have experienced a problem with my bodyguard in that it will fire the first round OK, but on the next round it will not fire the round. I have pulled the trigger a second time with the same result. After I eject the misfire round and re-chamber the next, I get the same result, a misfire. I replace the mag with a new one and get the same results. Looking at the misfired round, I can see a slight indent on the primer on all of the misfired rounds.

Any idea what is going on with the gun?

Gary

Frustrating! What ammo did you use? HP or FMJ? Have you tried a different brand/type? It could be that simple, otherwise if your mags are from the same lot, it could be weak springs. You might try taking the mags apart and stretching the springs. Just saying.

 

[ProjektPhoto]

Here is/was a problem with my S&W380BG The factory Magazine with the finger extension was not fully engaging or would release with the slightest pull. The non-ext mag was fine. I really want the ext. mag so I swapped the but plate and problem fixed. Now I just have to get another ext mag to replace the defective one.